Receiving terminal for conveyer systems



Nov. 17, 1925 Y 1,562,354

J. G. MACLAREN RECEIVING TERMINAL FOR CONVEYER SYSTEMS Original Filedllai'oh 26,-1920 Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT o I-c A J'AMES Gr. MACLAREN, 0F SYRACUSE, NET/VYORK, ASSIGNOR, IBY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE LAMSON COMPANY, OFSYRACUSE, NEW YOBK,' A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

RECEIVING TERMINAL FClR CONVEYER SYSTEMS.

Original application filed March 26, 1920, Serial No. 369,084. RenewedMarch 9, 19 2 5.

this application filed March 11,1925. Serial No. 14,694.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES G. Mac- LAREN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga andState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inReceiving Terminals for Conveyor Systems, of which the following is aspecification. I

This invention relates to article receiving apparatusfor conveyersystems and more particularly to apparatus for receiving carriers at aterminus, for example, the central station of a pneumatic despatchsystem, the present application being a division of my pendingapplication,,Serial No. 369,084, for carrier distributor, filed March26,1920, renewed March 9, 1925.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide receiving aparatus having automatically actuated means for delivery of carriersalternatively to one or another of two attendants, depending upon thenumber of carriers remaining in the receptacle provided at thestation ofone such attendant.

One embodiment of this invention is illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawing which shows a side elevation of the carrierreceiving apparatus in normal position, certain parts being in section.

at its upper end and havinga shelf or stop 5 at its lower end.,

Preferably this receptacle is inclined as indicated in the drawing, andan opening 5 is provided in its upper side wall adjacent to its lowerend to permitva carrier restinglupon the shelf 5 to be withdrawn from theptacle, If th fir t carrier 6 which -of the receptacle 5.

comes to rest upon the shelf 5 is not im mediately removed, successivelyarriving carriers will take the positions indicated at 7 and 8,respectively, the length of the receptacle 5 being such that thelastorup permost carrier of such a 'serieswill rest against the inwardlyprojecting nose} 9 of a lever 9 pivoted at 10 upon the upper end of thereceptacle. d j Normally this lever occupies the full line positionshown in the drawings, and when in this-position-a valve 11, which iscarried by the lever, closes the entrance to a chamber 12 in a boss 12projecting from" the wall The lever 9 is so counterweighted that whenthere is nocarrier occupying the position 8 thelever will remain in thefull line position closing the chamber 12 as just described. If,however, a carrier occupies the position indicated in dotted lines at 8the weight of its upper end,

-resting against the nose 9 of the lever,

swings the latterjoutwardly and opens the chamber 12 to the atmosphere.i

The chamber 12 communicates through Divided and j tubes 13 and 14 withone end 14 of the cylincler 15 of a pneumatic motor and by means of atube 13*, vneedle valve' 16,-'and tube 17 with a chamber withinwhichthere is maintained a pressure substantiallyequal to thatmaintained in, the pneumatic despa-tchsystem ofwhich the apparatus formsa part. For present purposes the systemis assumed to be of the vacuumtype and the chamber with which the tube17 communicates may I be assumedto bethe exhaust header 18 of such a system. This exhaust header 18 alsocommunicates with the opposite end 14 of the cylinder 15,by means of atube .19. v

'A piston 20 slides within the cylinder 15 and the piston rod 21 isconnected by a link 22 to the lower end of the guide member 4 of thehopper, so that movement of the, pistonaway from its normal positionwill swing thehopper' 1 and the guide itothe position 23 indicated indotted lines.

hen the valve 11 is opened by the pressure of a carrier occupying theposition 8, 1

air at atmospheric pressure enters the chamber 12 and passing throughthe tubes 13 and 14 enters the cylinder 15. The needlevalve 16 is soadjusted that air can enter the cylinder through the pipe 14 morerapidly than it is exhausted through the pipe '17. The pressure at theopposite side of the piston is thus unbalanced and the piston movestoward the end l l of the cylinder, thus swinging the hopper and guideto the clotted position 23, where they will remain until the valve 11 isclosed by the removal of a carrier from the position 8. So long as theguide 4: remains in the position 23, arriving carriers 24 will bediverted from the receptacle 5 and may be received upon a suitablechute, shelf, or moving belt 25 where they may be cared for by anattendant or conveyed to a remote point of discharge.

Then the lowermost carrier 6 is removed from the receptacle 5, the uppercarriers 7 and 8 will drop, thus releasing the lever 9 and permittingthe valve 11 to close. The pressure upon opposite sides of the pistonwillnow slowly equalize through the valve 16 andthe hopper 1 and theguide 4 will fallback to normal posit-ion under the action of gravity,thus restoring the piston to its original position.

The device thus described is particularly useful where carriers arelikely to arrive too rapidly to be'cared for by an attendant stationedat the receptacle 5, or when, as may sometimes happen, it is necessaryfor such attendant to leave her station for an interval. In either casesurplus carriers arriving through the tube 3 will be diverted from thereceptacle 5 and may be conveyed to some other point where they will becared for by another attendant.

I claim:

1. In a'carrier receiving apparatus, a receptacle for carriers, amovableguide normally positioned to deliver arriving carriers to saidreceptacle, and power actuated means responsive to the presence of acarrier occupying a predetermined position in the receptacle todisplacesaid guide from its normal position whereby later arrivingcarriers will be diverted from the receptacle.

2. In a carrier receiving apparatus, a receptacle for carriers, apivotally suspended guide normally positioned to deliver arrivingcarriers to the receptacle, a fluid motor for swinging the guide awayfrom its normal position, and means actuable by a carrier occupying apredetermined position in the receptacle to admit pressure fluid to the.motor and thereby to swing theguide out of its normal position andterminate delivery of carriers to the receptacle.

3. In a carrier receiving apparatus, .a receptacle for carriers, apivotally suspended guide normally positioned to deliver carriers to areceptacle, a pneumatic motor having a piston member connected to saidguide and adapted to swing the latter upon its pivot, avalvecon'trolling the operation of said motor, and means actuable by acan.

rier occupyinga definite position in the receptacle for opening saidvalve whereby to start the motor and thereby to swing said guide uponits pivot.

4. In a carrier receiving apparatus, a receptacle for carriers, apivotally suspended guide normally positioned to deliver carriers intosaid receptacle a pneumatic motor comprising a cylinder having a pistontherein, means connecting the piston to the guide, a tube communicatingwith one end of said cylinder, a second tube communicating with theopposite end of said cylinder, means normally maintainingsub-atmospheric pressure in said tubes, a valve for admitting air atatmospheric pressure to one of said tubes, and means actuable by acarrier occupying a predetermined position in the receptacle to opensaid valve, whereby the air pressure upon opposite sides of the pistonwill be unbalanced and the piston will move the guide out of its normalposition with relation to the receptacle.

5. In a carrier receiving apparatus, for a vacuum pneumatic despatchsystem, a fixed receptacle for carriers, a pivotally suspended guidenormally positioned to deliver carriers to the receptacle, a pneumaticmotor comprising a cylinder and a piston sliding therein, meansconnecting the piston to the guide for swinging the latter from itsnormal position relative to the receptacle, a tube communicating withone end of said cylinder, a second tube communicating with the oppositeend of said cylinder, means for transmitting the sub-atmosphericpressure of the system to said tubes, a normally closed valve foradmitting atmospheric pressure to one end of the cylinder, and meansactuable by a carrier occupying a predetermined position in thereceptacle for opening said valve to admit air to one end of thecylinder, thus actuating the piston and thereby displacing the guiderelatively to the receptacle.

6. In a carrier receiving apparatus, a receptacle for carriers, apivotally suspended .guide normally positioned to deliver carriers t othe receptacle, a pneumatic motor comprising a cylinder and a pistontherein, means connecting the piston to the guide, a tube communicatingwith one end of the cylinder, a second tube communicating with theopposite end of the cylinder, means for establishingsub-atmosphericpressure in said tubes, a normally closed valve foradmitting atmospheric air to one of said tubes, and a weighted levernormally retaining said valve in closed position, said lever having apart engagea'ble by a predetermined one of a se ries of carriers restingin the receptacle whereby to open said valve and admit air to the motorthereby moving the piston and displacing the guide so as to terminatedelivery of'carriers to the receptacle.

7. In a carrier receiving apparatus, a re ceptacle for carriers, apivotally suspended guide normally positioned to deliver car-' riers tothe receptacle, a pneumatic motor comprising a cylinder and a pistontherein, means connecting the piston to the guide, a tube connected toone end of the cylinder, a second tube connected to the opposite end ofthe cylinder, each of said tubes communicating with a chamber in whichsub atmospheric pressure is maintained, a needle valve in one of saidtubes restricting the passage between the cylinder and said exhaustchamher, a normally closed valve for admitting atmospheric air to thatend of the cylinder with which said last named tube communicates, andmeans actuable by a carrier occupying a definite position in thereceptacle for opening said valve to admit air to said one end of thecylinder, whereby to displace the piston and move the guide from itsoperative position relatively to the receptacle, said air admissionvalve closing automatically when said carrier is removed from suchdefinite position in the receptacle, thereby permitting the piston andguide to return to normal position.

' Signed by me at Syracuse, New York, this 28th day of February 1925.

JAMES G. MAOLAREN.

